Posts Tagged food

You just cannot have hundreds and hundreds of people gathered to have fun without food and drink. There were so many options to choose from ranging from the traditional fair food to more unique offerings. We all know that corn dogs are one of the most traditional foods found at events like this but never have I seen it offered from a pink castle and dragon.

Of course there was beer and here is a view from the main food street. Fried Swiss cheese, hmm.

Food trucks parked inside of the park were offering goodies like Ribman here; wish I had gone back to get something from them because they had some goodies on their menu I haven’t had in a long time.

And then there was the well known (and well patronized by students from OSU for one) pizza from Late Night Slice. Gotta love the slogan on the truck 😉

Whole fried snapper at a Peruvian place in Miami Beach. The Peruvian seafood fried rice I had is something I would order again in a heartbeat! Soooooooooo good both dishes! May your weekend be a tasty one 🙂

I’m still floating on a Nana high over my precious little turkey nugget. His big brother is a champ at holding and feeding him but his big sister – well – she hasn’t gotten the hang of it yet and would rather play on her phone. Kids! But while I forgot an ingredient or two for the dressing (it got doctored on after I realized my mistake and there will be no revolts) I made whole berry cranberry sauce for the first time and it turned out quite spiffy and incredibly easy if I say so myself. No more canned for us 🙂

Cheese is something you either like or you don’t. When I was a little girl my knowledge of cheese was limited to that waxy yellowish orange stuff that came wrapped in individual slices. Then I discovered cheddar cheese but it too was that same color. Time marched on and there were things like Velveeta (I just heard some of you cheese connoisseurs cringe; calm yourselves) pimento cheese, cream cheese, and that funny stuff in a spray can which was more fun than truly edible.

But once I was out of college and began to travel more I discovered there was a lot of cheese making going on out there in the world. Some of it was fantastic (Gouda, Brie, Manchego) and some of it was just why in the world would anyone make this let alone eat it – I’m looking at you Limburger and that really bad chunk of Stilton I had once. Actually, that Stilton was just one bad slice from a shop that I never went back to. I’ve since had some that while it is still not my favorite it wasn’t too bad.

This photo was taken in 2012 in the Grand Central Station market in New York. I’ve been meaning to go back and photograph the market again but there is just so much to see and do in NYC that it hasn’t happened – yet! Looking at the prices then I was shocked and I don’t even want to imagine what they are now. Why are these cheeses so expensive? Any ideas? Some nice crusty bread and a chunk of that Drunken Goat and some fruit along with a bottle of what got the goat tipsy sounds like a great luncheon plan for the weekend.

This festival started in 1962 and has grown to become one of the most highly acclaimed art festivals in the nation. Each year I enjoy seeing the artists and their works but this Saturday I had a special reason for attending which I will share with you in a moment. The festival attracts artists from all over the country. There are painters, photographers, chalk artists as pictured here, wood carvers, metalworkers and more.

And it wouldn’t be a festival without the food and drink to be had. The smells were wonderful with the sweet aroma of kettle corn, the cool fruit smoothies, food trucks offering so many wonderful choices of good eats and of course adult beverages for those desiring something more than freshly squeezed lemonade 😉

But as I mentioned earlier I went to the festival this year for an extra reason. I was going to meet a local photographer friend that I have known only via the medium of blogging. If you haven’t seen Rick Braveheart’s work before then you really should check out his website here. His work is at the Smithsonian Institute and he is the artist in residence for the National Park Service. Rick’s photography inspires and challenges me and I am determined now to photograph the beauty that is in our national parks. The art festival has an emerging artist program which features upcoming local artists. Rick submitted his work and was picked to show for the first time this year. Congrats, Rick!

This is always a great festival to attend with tomorrow, Sunday, being the last day for the 2015 festival so you still have time to experience the festival. You get to see such amazing talent from artists you might not otherwise get to experience and there is never a bad time or place for food truck eats accompanied by bands.

“The Shake Shack is a little old place where we can get a burger….shake shack baby!” A tip of the hat there to the B-52’s and their song Love Shack which I have modified just a bit.

The first time we ever saw a Shake Shack was in NYC last year where we saw the line go out the door and down the block. “What in the world do they have in there?” I said. Of course I wanted to go try whatever it was but there was no way I was going to stand in line that long for anything short of them having a 75% off camera equipment sale 😉 So the mystery remained until I read an article about this place which declared it to have some very tasty burgers and fries. Either the food is that good or it’s just another one of those trending food things; I might try it the next time I’m in New York I proclaimed.

Turned out the next time was when we were in South Beach. While looking for new places to eat within walking distance of our hotel I discovered a Shake Shack on Lincoln Road. We managed to make it in there one day at just the right time which means we were able to walk right in and get our food without a long line. Always a bonus to me. Our order was a single cheese burger for me, DH had a double, two soda pops, a vanilla concrete, and one regular and one cheese fry. You give them your name and then either lay claim to a table or wait by the counter for them tell you to come and claim your food. The food was pretty good but it was not stand in line for for a long time good, at least not to my taste buds. I will say their crinkle fries were very good; crispy on the outside and all soft potato goodness on the inside.

I went back for a “Shack-cago” dog because we were still a bit hungry and wanted to see their take on it. We’ve eaten the famous hot dog in the city that created dragging it through the garden and this paled in comparison. If you go to a Shake Shack I suggest you stick with the burgers and fries and you won’t go wrong…also try the design your own concrete. Oh yeah!